Akasamanta - Review

Dil Raju has proved himself as a producer with a good taste. Almost all the films produced by him are hits and are evidently minimum guarantee films. He shares a good relation with Prakash Raj and in all his films, the latter would invariably portray one role. Prakash Raj is not only an artiste but also a producer. He has produced many films like Abhiyum Naanum in Tamil. Upon Prakash Raj"s advice, Dil Raju agreed to dub the film in Telugu. Surprisingly, the film was an average film in Tamil. Dil Raju was in a dilemma and decided to tinker the film and reshoot some scenes by adding a new role played by Jagapatibabu. This has helped in saving the film Akasamanta and generating a good revenue..

The storyline is very simple and cute. Sudhakar (Jagapatibabu) takes his daughter to a park and starts playing with her. Raghuram (Prakash Raj) also reaches there after an evening walk. On watching Sudhakar"s struggle with his daughter, Raghuram recollects his old memories and shares his experiences in bringing up his daughter Abhi (Trisha) with Sudhakar. He tells Sudhakar, how he brought her up.

He recollects the day she was born, when he dropped her at school, admitted her in high school, the days when she refused to go in his jeep but rather ride a bicycle, the complaint she made about a boy who gave her the first love letter and how he pacified her, her admission in JNU, Delhi and left home for two years, her first crush with a Sikh boy called Joginder Singh (Ganesh Venkatraman), the way she explained her love to Raghuram, who could not digest the fact (in fact, Raghuram himself had married a girl without the consent of her parents), and how he agreed to her marriage with Jogi. The narration is very impressive and the director has really taken the entire audiences into the subject. Unintentionally, in many scenes, the audiences" eyes go wet.

PLUS:
Prakash Raj's performance is the ultimate in the film. If there had been any other artiste in place of Prakash Raj, the film would have been very boring. Prakash Raj is an acting genius. His facial expressions, his body language, his dialogue modulation and in fact every scene involving his performance is memorable and adorable. The director has really filled in a lot of freshness and sweetness of parental love towards children throughout the film. Cinematography by Preetha is another asset. He has been able to capture the greenery and the nativity in a perfect manner. He has not gone for unnecessary experiments and has presented what is in the mind of the director on the screen. Especially, the way the camera captures the moods and facial expressions of Prakash Raj is very interesting. Marthand K Venkatesh has also done a very good job in editing the film in a perfect manner and there are absolutely no boring scenes. Dialogues penned by three writers are good to listen. Lyrics are okay and the song 'Aatala... Paatala...' is melodious and haunts the audiences even after returning from the theatre.

MINUS:
Though the film is very good to watch right from the beginning to end, the director turned a Nelson"s eye towards Trisha"s character. He has given weightage to Prakash Raj"s role, and ignored all the other characters including that of Trisha. Trisha has tried to excel in her character but to no avail. The first half is completely entertaining. In a bid to fill melodrama, the director has stretched the film beyond limits after the interval bang. This has left some boring scenes here and there. Likewise, the scenes where Prakash Raj prepares for an interview to join Trisha in a school appears nonsensical. Though Vidyasagar"s music is not that great, the re-recording has elevated the mood of the film at times.

REMARKS:
Children grow up year after year in an impressive manner. Their parents too will mature with their growing age. The director has tried his best to explain this through his film as to how a father gets mature year after year. Every daughter and every father must watch this film and the film would definitely attract the family audiences. Though it had no mass elements, the spread of mouth talk would work in a positive manner.

Cast: Prakash Raj, Jagapatibabu, Trisha, Aiswarya, Ganesh Venkatraman, Karunavel, Talaivasal Vijay, Manobala, Sri Ranjani and others

Credits: Lyrics – Veturi Sundarama Murthy and Anant Sriram, Dialogues – CP Narayana, Abburi Ravi and Sashank Vennelakanti, Camera – Preetha, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Music – Vidya Sagar, Co-producers – Sirish and Lakhman, Presents – Smt Anitha, Producer – 'Dil" Raju, Screenplay and direction – Radha Mohan.

Banner: Sri Venkateswara Creations

Released: March 27, 2009